


The Calm Before the Storm

by SailorChibi



Series: 2021 ML Prompt Months [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs Help, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Being Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Identity Reveal, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth is a bad father, Hugging, Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Marinette March, Marinette March 2021, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Secret Identity Reveal, does not include spoilers for the NY special, ignores the NY special, mainly because I haven't seen it myself, post-season 3 (Miraculous Ladybug)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29782635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: Marinette has a lot on her shoulders now that she's the guardian, but she's figuring things out with the help of her loyal partner. That is, until Chat disappears.A story for Marinette March 2021.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: 2021 ML Prompt Months [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189049
Comments: 122
Kudos: 235





	1. Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the beginning of the 2021 ML prompt months! This year is a little different. I will be writing a six-part, cohesive series that begins in Marinette March, travels through Adrinette April, Marichat May, Ladrien June, and Ladynoir July, before the series concludes with Adrien AUG-reste. Are you willing to stick it out with me for six months? Let's see.
> 
> NOTE: I draw inspiration from the ML monthly prompts, which are generated by the corresponding discords. Each day, the prompt word will appear somewhere in the posted part. However, I do **not** dedicate each part to the prompts because I am, above all, telling a story. If that's not what you're looking for, then this is not the story for you. So please exercise your use of the back button and go, because any comments that even HINT at this will be deleted.

“Are you okay, Marinette?”

The soft sound of Kagami’s voice went right over Marinette’s head. She was too busy starting out at the Seine. The waters were surprisingly calm today, probably because there was no wind – and that meant it was warm, so she and Kagami had decided to get smoothies instead of orange juice for once. Kagami had mumbled something about ruining her supper, but she seemed very pleased with her smoothie in the end.

“Your smoothie is melting into your lap,” Kagami said into Marinette’s ear, right before something very cold landed on Marinette’s bare legs.

“Eek!” she squealed, jumping up. Her smoothie, plastic slick from condensation, slipped from her fingers and hit the ground, splattering drops of passionfruit-mango smoothie in every direction. Marinette stared at the drops of smoothie on her shoes and legs and sighed.

“I tried to warn you,” Kagami said diplomatically, but she helpfully fished some napkins out of her bag and handed them over.

“Thanks. Sorry, I was preoccupied,” Marinette said, swiping at the mess half-heartedly. All that seemed to do was smear the mess, leaving her colder and stickier than when she began.

Kagami took a sip of her smoothie before she observed, “Whatever you were thinking about, you seemed to be thinking really hard.”

“I was,” Marinette said softly. It was fortunate that Kagami was too polite to ask what she’d been thinking about, because Marinette was way too tired to come up with a lie right now. Had it been any of her other friends, she was certain they would have badgered her into sharing – purely because they were worried, of course, but sometimes her reserved nature made spending time with Kagami really refreshing.

She bent down to pick up her smoothie cup and walked over to the nearest garbage can to dump both the cup and the napkins. Then she returned to Kagami and sat down on the bench again, stretching her sticky legs out in front of her. 

“I would listen if you wanted me to,” Kagami said, somewhat formally, and Marinette smiled at her.

“Thanks,” she said again. “But honestly, I’m not at the point where I can talk about it yet. Too many thoughts are running through my head and I don’t know how to put them into words.”

“Sounds like your brain needs a break,” said Kagami. “When I have too much on my mind, I find that fencing can help.”

“I’m so clumsy that no one wants to give me a sword!” Marinette said, but she thought that Kagami’s idea had merit. It had been a while since she’d gone for a run as Ladybug. Perhaps it was time to set aside an hour or so. She and Chat had patrol tonight, so maybe she’d be able to entice him into a game of tag.

Kagami’s smile was kind. “Something else might work better for you. Designing, maybe? Or sewing?”

“I might see if my dad needs help in the bakery tonight,” Marinette lied, and Kagami nodded: accepting those words at face value like she always did, like everyone did, because why wouldn’t they?

But it made Marinette’s stomach flip.

It was one more lie on top of a huge pile of secrets.

She was getting _so tired_ of secrets. It had all seemed so easy back in the beginning when a little red-and-black-spotted kwami popped out of a pair of earrings and told her she’d need to keep her identity a secret. Marinette never could have imagined how heavy the weight of secrets could be.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kagami said with a nod. “Would you save me a cookie?” She looked away as she spoke, like she was too embarrassed to see Marinette’s reaction, and Marinette had to smile. 

“Of course I will. You’re my friend, right? The next time we meet, I’ll bring you a cookie,” Marinette promised. “I hate to cut our time short, but I should probably be going. I need a shower.”

Kagami chuckled. “That’s alright. I have a lesson in twenty-two minutes and it’s a twelve-minute walk. If I’m late, they’ll tell my mother. So I have to go, too.” She stood up. “Thank you for meeting me, Marinette.”

“It’s no problem. I had fun!” Marinette said with another smile, though she couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit guilty as she waved to Kagami. Despite Kagami’s kind words, Marinette was certain that she had been terrible company today. She’d been so preoccupied she hadn’t heard a word Kagami had said, and now she was cutting their time short. 

When Hawkmoth had been captured, Marinette thought, she’d be a better friend.

The real question was, would she even have any friends left by that point?


	2. Multimouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the lovely comments. I appreciate them all.

“Are you okay, Marinette?”

“That’s the second time in as many hours that someone’s asked me that,” Marinette said. Freshly washed, and now lacking the stickiness that had chased her into an early shower after dinner with her parents, she turned to Tikki. “Tell me the truth. Do I really look that bad?”

“Not at all,” Tikki said instantly, but honestly the response came so quickly that Marinette wasn’t sure she could believe it. Her kwami was _too_ loyal sometimes.

“There’s just so much going on. Between everything I have to do as Marinette and as Ladybug, it makes my head hurt. I wish there were six of me,” Marinette muttered, dropping her towel and reaching for a clean pair of shorts. Her eyes landed on the Miracle Box and she paused.

Hmm, now that was an idea…

“Don’t even think about it,” Tikki said, so sternly that Marinette jumped. 

“Don’t even think about what?” Marinette asked, pasting on an innocent expression.

Tikki put her little paws on her hips, not fooled for a second. “Marinette, the miraculous are not meant to be used for your own gain. You know that. Besides, using the Mouse miraculous to turn into Multimouse and make copies of yourself is not the answer. What happens when two Multimouse aren’t enough, and you have to use three? And then when three Multimouse aren’t enough, and you need four? That’s a slippery slope.”

Marinette sighed and pulled her shorts on. Damn Tikki for being so reasonable! “Yeah, okay, I guess you’re right. Besides, the chances that someone would see a Multimouse running around doing Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s work is too high. Too bad, though. That would’ve been handy.”

“You’re resourceful. You’ll figure things out,” Tikki said, her normal cheer returning. She smiled brightly at Marinette, but Marinette found it hard to smile back.

It was easy for Tikki to say that. Tikki was a kwami and at the end of the day, it was not the kwami’s responsibility to figure shit out. That was reserved for the Guardian.

Now reserved for _Marinette_.

Suddenly she was glad she hadn’t consumed much of her smoothie or her dinner. The nauseous feeling that swept over her made her feel sick to her stomach. She pulled on a tank top and scaled the ladder to her bed, where she flopped down on top of the covers and stared at her corkboard. The smiling faces of her friends made her feel even worse. Right now, she felt like she was perilously close to letting them _and_ all of Paris down.

Hawkmoth was more of a problem than ever, but she and Chat were no closer to figuring out who he was. If anything, Hawkmoth had become even more of a mystery. All of the allies they had gathered were now useless because Hawkmoth knew their identities. It wasn’t safe to rely on their friends anymore, but she and Chat couldn’t do this alone. They needed _help_.

“Ugh, are you totally sure that Multimouse isn’t the answer, Tikki?” Marinette asked. “Because half a dozen of me would be _really_ helpful no matter how tiny they are…”

When there was no answer, Marinette propped herself up on her elbows to look and realized that Tikki had curled on the bed beside her and fallen asleep. As cute as the sight of her sleeping kwami was, it just filled Marinette with more anxiety. She really wanted to make Tikki proud of her. That had once seemed like it would be easy to do, but now?

Now Master Fu was gone, and they would probably never see him again – and honestly, even if they did see him again, he wasn’t the same Master Fu. Without his memory, he was just a kindly old man. 

Now Hawkmoth had exposed the identities of their allies.

Now Marinette was the guardian, and it was her responsibility to figure out how to fix this, and she just didn’t know _how_.

Feeling sick again, she fell back against her bed and grabbed her pillow. Pressing it over her face helped a tiny bit. The pressure was grounding, which was something she desperately needed when her brain was threatening to spin out of control.

“Come on, Marinette, you can do this,” Marinette whispered into her pillow, closing her eyes. “The stakes are higher than ever, but you’re Ladybug. Everything that Master Fu taught you has been building up to this moment. You have to figure out how to make him proud too.”

Her throat ached when she swallowed, and she ended up sniffling into the pillow. Multimouse wasn’t the answer according to Tikki, but there had to be some miraculous answer that she hadn’t thought of yet. She just didn’t know how she was ever going to think of it.


	3. China

Marinette let herself wallow in bed for about forty-five minutes before she clambered over her sleeping kwami and dropped to the ground. She crept out of her bedroom and down the hall, not wanting either of her parents to hear her, and into the bathroom. The sight of her red, swollen eyes in the mirror was not a pleasant sight, and she made a face at her reflection.

“If only Hawkmoth could see me now. I’m sure he’d be terrified,” she muttered, disgusted, and turned on the water. She wet a facecloth and pressed the damp cloth to her eyes, hoping to ease the swelling before she met up with Chat. He’d been annoyingly perceptive to her moods lately as it was.

“Marinette? Are you in there?”

“I’m just getting ready for bed, Maman,” Marinette called back, lowering the cloth. Her eyes looked a bit better, she thought critically, but not great. Thank goodness the Ladybug outfit came equipped with a mask. 

“Open up the door,” Sabine requested.

“I’m busy,” Marinette said.

“Marinette,” Sabine said, an edge to her voice. “Open the door.”

Marinette sighed but obeyed. Sabine took one look at her daughter and immediately pulled Marinette into a hug. Despite herself, Marinette couldn’t help melting into it. She’d become increasingly disconnected from her parents ever since becoming Ladybug, but she hoped that there would never be a day when her maman’s hugs didn’t make her feel safe and warm.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been crying,” Sabine said, gently patting Marinette’s back. “Are you having trouble at school again?”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Marinette said, which was the truth for once. Lila and all of her shenanigans had been a million miles away from Marinette’s thoughts over the past couple of weeks.

“Are you sure?” Sabine pulled back and cupped Marinette’s cheeks, looking deeply into Marinette’s eyes like she could discern what Marinette was thinking through sheer willpower. Thank goodness, she couldn’t.

“I’m sure,” Marinette murmured, pressing her hands over her maman’s.

“Your papa and I have been thinking,” Sabine said slowly. “Summer vacation is soon.”

“Yeah,” Marinette said, realizing that it really was. They had only had a couple weeks of the school year left, didn’t they? At least that would be one less thing she had to worry about for a little while. Getting up early for school after a whole night of fighting akumas was challenging.

“We wanted to run something past you,” Sabine continued. She moved one of her hands up to brush a few stray hairs off Marinette’s forehead, and Marinette started getting a sneaking suspicion that she knew where this was going. She decided to head her maman off at the pass.

“I don’t mind helping out in the bakery this summer, but I don’t want to do it every day. I’d like to spend some time with Alya and my other friends too,” Marinette said cautiously.

Sabine smiled. “That might be a little hard if you’re in China.”

“If I’m – what?!” Marinette squeaked.

“It’s been a long time since I got the chance to visit my family. The bakery is doing really well. Your papa and I thought that some time away from Paris might be just what you needed to feel better. We’ll leave the week after you’re done with school and stay in China for a month. Won’t that be fun?” Sabine was still smiling, clearly expecting Marinette to be ecstatic.

“I – Maman, that’s –” Marinette’s head was spinning. 

“We’ll stay with family for a couple weeks, but we’ll do some touring too,” Sabine went on. “Oh, Marinette, it’ll be so much fun!” She grabbed Marinette in another hug.

This time, Marinette couldn’t bring herself to hug her maman back. Her arms hung limply at her sides as Sabine gushed about how much fun they were going to have. She knew she should speak up and say that she couldn’t go, or that she didn’t want to go, but the words got lodged in her throat.

“I really think it’ll be just the thing you need to feel better,” Sabine said, letting Marinette go. “It’s going to be great!” She beamed at Marinette, who gave her a weak smile in return.

She needed to say something.

Marinette _had_ to say something.

She didn’t say anything.

She couldn’t.

“Oh, I need to get back downstairs. Your papa and I are just about done cleaning up and then we’re going to bed. Don’t stay up too late.” Sabine patted Marinette’s shoulder and then headed back down the hall. Marinette watched her go, feeling numb.

Now she had a _deadline_ during which they needed to deal with Hawkmoth?!

Just how did things keep going from bad to worse?


	4. Miracle Box

Chat was waiting for her by the time that Ladybug made it to their usual meeting spot. He was laying on his back, hands cushioning his head, staring up at the sky. The sight of him calmed some of the storm raging inside of Ladybug. He looked so peaceful. 

“Bonsoir, _Chaton_ ,” she called out to him as she alighted on the rooftop. 

“Hey Bug,” he said without looking away from the sky. “Running late?”

“Oh, my maman stopped me out on the way to say that she’s planned a big trip to China for me this summer,” Ladybug said. It was probably a bit cruel of her to relish the way he choked and bolted upright. Peace was overrated. It was nice to see someone else freak out over the news.

“That’s – wow. What are you going to do?” Chat asked, bracing himself against the ground with his right hand. He casually draped his left arm over his bent knee with the kind of grace that Ladybug would forever envy. It seemed to be innate to Chat, given that she’d felt just as clumsy with the Black Cat miraculous as she usually did, and was something he embodied so effortlessly that she doubted he even realized did it.

“I have no idea. I should’ve said something, but I just couldn’t… I have to, though, don’t I?” Ladybug sighed heavily and dropped down beside him. It was her turn to lay down on her back and look up at the sky. Clouds were gathering.

“Do you?” Chat said.

“She wants to go for a whole _month_. This isn’t just a couple of days,” Ladybug said miserably. If Sabine enjoyed her visit home enough, and if the bakery did okay without them, then the trip might even get extended for most of the summer. But she couldn’t tell that to Chat. There weren’t too many 15-year-old half-Chinese teenaged girls whose parents owned a bakery living in Paris.

Chat leaned over so that his face filled her vision. “You have the Miracle Box now,” he pointed out. “There’s no one around to control your access to the miraculous. Couldn’t you just travel back and forth with the Horse miraculous if you needed to?”

“I – ” Ladybug blinked for a moment, realizing that thought had never once occurred to her. She was too used to the Miracle Box being under Master Fu’s control, and to only being permitted to access one or two miraculous at a time. But now she was the guardian, so she supposed that meant Chat was right. The miraculous were hers to use as she saw fit, and not even Tikki could argue that fell under personal use.

“I’m just saying. It’s hardly ideal, and I hate the thought of a summer with you, but if you can’t get out of it…” Chat trailed off and shrugged a shoulder.

“It’s not a terrible idea,” she said slowly. “As much as I don’t like the idea of going, I also don’t like the idea of disappointing my parents.”

And, she realized, she also hated the thought of a summer without Chat. She’d been looking forward to long summer nights with only the heat, the stars, and a black cat for company. 

“Well, maybe your parents will change their mind,” Chat suggested optimistically.

“I doubt it. Maman was pretty excited. If I don’t want to go, I have to tell her now before she starts booking tickets and stuff.” Ladybug groaned and pressed her hands to her face in lieu of a pillow. It didn’t work nearly as well.

Then again, when she was alone in her bed, she didn’t have a cat boy laying down beside her and scooting close enough that their shoulders were touching. The warmth of Chat’s arm was just as good, if not better. Despite herself, she let her head roll to the side so that she could rest against his bicep. A month away from Chat. Could she handle that?

“Parents are a drag. They never do what we want them to do,” Chat said after a while.

“You said it,” Ladybug muttered. “I appreciate the thought behind it, but honestly her timing couldn’t be worse.”

“Actually,” Chat began.

Ladybug immediately elbowed him. “Do _not_ start listing off ways that this could be worse. It’ll just give the universe ideas.”

Chat chuckled. “Take it from a black cat: I’m pretty sure the universe has more than enough ideas, My Lady.”

“Yeah, well, let me live in ignorance,” she grumbled, and he laughed again. A small smile tugged at her lips as she listened to him laugh. Out of everything else that was wrong in Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s life, at least right now there was this.


	5. Cat Miraculous

They chatted for a while about their summer. Chat wasn’t really sure what his was going to look like yet. Ladybug knew that he had a job of some kind; he had mentioned before that he worked for his family’s business. But she didn’t know the finer details, of course. Just like he knew that sometimes she worked for her family’s business, but not that it was a bakery.

“So you’ll work this summer?” she asked him.

“Probably,” Chat said, rolling his eyes. The light from the streets reflected strangely off his eyes when he did that. Sometimes, Ladybug thought that the more he used the Black Cat miraculous, the more of a cat he became. 

“You don’t sound thrilled about it,” she said.

“I’m not. It’s going to meet a lot of late nights and busy days.” Chat turned away to look down at the streets, his shoulders slumping. Ladybug bit her lip. Suddenly, the thought of having to leave him was even less appealing than before.

“That sucks,” she said quietly. She didn’t usually mind working in the bakery so long as she didn’t have other things to do or an akuma to chase down, but Chat didn’t seem to enjoy his job at all. It was rare that he spoke about it in any positive way.

“Yeah, well, what are you gonna do?” He shrugged. “My summers are usually busy. We used to travel a lot, but… not so much anymore. Who knows, though.” He smiled teasingly. “Perhaps a certain civilian wielding the Cat miraculous will end up following his lady to China.”

“Right,” Ladybug said, giving him a playful poke in the ribs. “Because you’re just _that_ lucky.”

“Rudely throwing my lack of luck in my face as per usual,” Chat said, but he was still smiling. 

“It’s just as well. Both of us on vacation for an extended period of time would be a disaster. We only have one Horse miraculous,” Ladybug replied.

“True. Hopefully our travel schedules, if they turn out that way, won’t overlap,” he said. “I’d hate for you to have to swing by somewhere else in the world to pick me up on your way back to Paris.”

Ladybug contemplated how messy that could get for a moment or two before she made a face. “Ugh, let’s stop talking about this. It’s starting to make my head hurt.”

“What do you want to talk about, then?” Chat asked.

“I don’t know. Anything but the miraculous or how complicated things could get,” she said.

“Okay…” Chat thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you something funny. I bought Plagg some chocolate covered cheese yesterday and he almost cried.”

She stared at him, wondering if she’d heard that right. “Did you say chocolate covered cheese?”

“Yup. Basically came out looking like a mozzarella stick dipped in chocolate. Plagg thought it was _disgusting_. He was threatening to go find out and file a report for kwami abuse.” Chat looked absolutely gleeful at the thought. 

“Oh my god,” Ladybug said, shaking her head. She would never understand the weird relationship that Chat and Plagg had. As much as the two of them cared about each other, they could also be such little shits to each other. 

“It was amazing,” Chat said. “He was so mad today he didn’t even want to go into the miraculous.” He brandished the Cat miraculous on his finger. It was softly lit by the familiar glowing green lit, indicating that Plagg was indeed inside. Probably swearing up a storm and vowing revenge, knowing Plagg.

“You do know he’s going to get you back for that,” she said.

“It’ll be totally worth it,” Chat said with a smirk. “If I could detransform, I’d show you the video on my phone. It’s hilarious.”

Ladybug finally had to smile. “You’ll have to show it to me someday.”

His smile faded, and he said, with undue seriousness: “I will.”

The sudden weight of the moment left Ladybug hovering somewhere between uncertainty and awkwardness. Neither of them had broached the conversation about identities for a long time. Things had the potential to be different now that she was the guardian, but Ladybug hadn’t yet decided if she was ready for that difference. Either way, she knew that now was not the moment for it.

So she said, “I have to ask, did you try this monstrosity yourself?”

Chat blinked at her before rolling with it. “Nope, of course not. Plagg didn’t even have to eat it. He just can’t say no to cheese.”

And yeah, that sounded like the Plagg that she knew.


	6. Allies

“You know, we were actually supposed to patrol tonight,” Ladybug said, staring up at the sky. Her earlier thoughts about how good it would feel to run around the city seemed like they had happened to a totally different person. She was pretty sure that it had been at least three or four hours and neither she nor Chat had moved off the rooftop where they first met.

Chat pushed himself up, took a quick look around, and then laid back down. “I can confirm the city looks just fine. Patrolling done,” he declared, waving a lazy hand.

Ladybug smiled. “That’s not really how it works, _Chaton_ ,” she said, yet she was feeling rather disinclined to move herself. There was something about here with Chat. His presence just melted away all of her worries. She couldn’t even say it was just because she was transformed, because usually being Ladybug just reminded her that she was now the guardian which added to her stress.

No, it was Chat. Maybe it was the fact that he believed in her so strongly. Or maybe it was the fact that no matter what was happening, he always knew what to say to make her smile. Or maybe it was the fact that they were partners, and she knew she could rely on him no matter what. Or maybe…

She turned her head slightly. He was looking up, seemingly unaware of her attention, which meant she was seeing his profile. His hair had fallen back, exposing more of his face, so she could see that whereas her mask stopped above her nose, his exposed just the tip. It was a silly little feature that she had always thought was cute, though she had never said as much. 

He really was a handsome boy. That wasn’t something Ladybug allowed herself to think about very often, but it was the truth. No one would’ve been surprised to learn that Chat Noir had a lot of fangirls and fanboys. Not only did he have an attractive face, but their suits left very little to the imagination so it was easy to see that he had a really nice body too…

“What is it?” Chat suddenly turned his head to look right at her. Ladybug jumped, realizing she’d been staring at him, and blushed.

“N-nothing!” she squeaked. “I was just thinking… um, have you come up with any ideas for new allies?”

“Oh.” Chat’s brow wrinkled and he sighed, rolling over on his side. So she did the same, rolling onto her opposite side so that they could comfortably look at each other.

“I keep thinking about all the people I know and drawing blanks. I’ve run through a lot of the people that I could rely on, and I hesitate to use anyone else because I don’t want Hawkmoth drawing the obvious parallel,” Ladybug said.

“You mean you’re worried Hawkmoth could figure out who you are through their identities?” Chat said.

Ladybug looked at him in horror. “I didn’t even think of that!”

“Oh, uh, I’m sure that’s not something Hawkmoth will think of either,” Chat said quickly. 

“But what if he does? Oh my god, he could know who I am right now!” Ladybug said, panicked. 

“Hey, if Hawkmoth had figured you out, I’m sure he would’ve done something about it by now,” Chat said, reaching out his free hand and putting it on hers. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“No… it’s good you mentioned it,” she said, biting her lip. She’d been really stupid in retrospect. Using her friends had made so much sense at the time, but it was like she’d painted a big red circle around the students in Madame Bustier’s class. Add in the students in the class who also knew Luka Couffaine and Kagami Tsurugi and she might as well have told Hawkmoth her own name.

“It’s fine. Hawkmoth just wanted to eliminate them as our allies. He knows that we can’t use them now because he could attack their families like he did Queen Bee. That’s all. We’re in the clear,” Chat said firmly.

“But what if he does figure me out?” Ladybug asked in a small voice. Her stomach churned with anxiety as she thought about the danger that her parents could be in. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to go to China after all. What if Hawkmoth found out and attacked her papa while they were gone?

“Our allies had a lot of friends. Hawkmoth would have a hard time drawing a logical conclusion about your identity,” Chat told her. “Just… we should both be a little more careful for a while as our civilian selves, that’s all.”

She closed her eyes. “I hope you’re right.”


	7. All Nighter

“I know I’m right,” Chat said with such confidence that she had to believe him, at least a little. And who knew, maybe he was right. It wasn’t like Hawkmoth would be familiar with Collège Françoise Dupont, so he wouldn’t know right off the bat that all of their allies were connected. That would require some research – research that he was hopefully too busy or too overconfident to bother with.

“Okay… so assuming you are right, that still doesn’t solve our immediate problem,” she said, opening her eyes to look at him again. It felt like he’d inched a bit closer when she wasn’t looking. Her heart thudded at his proximity.

Chat could probably figure her out too if he wanted to. The thought popped, unbidden, into her head. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought that the likelihood that he might attend Collège Françoise Dupont too wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t hard for him to collect the names of their allies and do the work in putting two and two together… particularly since Marinette hadn’t shown up to Hawkmoth’s summon and Chat knew she’d been Multimouse.

But he wouldn’t. Chat wouldn’t do that because he knew that she was adamant their identities remain a secret. He might not have liked it, but he had always agreed to it because it was what she wanted. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Chat said, drawing her attention back to him. He looked thoughtful. “I don’t really know of any people either… I mean, there’s a couple who _might_ work? But I’m not really close to them. I just know them through my job. My other job, I mean. My civilian job.”

“Maybe it’s better that we use people we’re not close to,” Ladybug said. “Though that does raise the question of how we know whether these people are trustworthy if we don’t know them well.”

“It’s finding the right balance of not being too close to someone while also knowing them just well enough to know how they’d use a miraculous. It’s a thin line to walk.” Chat drummed his fingers against the roof. “Maybe we could each come up with a couple of names before our next patrol. Does that work?”

“Sure, I’ll try to think more about people I only know peripherally,” Ladybug said. That would be hard, but she’d have to do it.

“I’ll do the same.” Chat yawned then, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth. Then he rubbed at his eyes. It left him looking a bit like an adorable kitten who had just woken up. Ladybug looked away.

“We should go. If we’re not careful, we’ll end up pulling another all nighter and we both have school,” she said. She didn’t know what time it was, but they’d been on the roof for a while. It had to be after midnight, probably fast approaching 1am or 2am or later. 

“Ugh, I don’t even have school. I have… something else,” Chat said, making a face.

Ladybug sat up. “Then it’s even more important that we go and get some sleep.”

“You’re right,” he conceded with clear reluctance, and got up. He reached out a hand to help her up, which she gratefully took.

“Good night, _Chaton_ ,” she said quietly.

“Bonsoir, My Lady. Sweet dreams.” He tipped an imaginary hat to her.

Ladybug left, smiling, and used her yoyo to make her way home. The bakery was nice and quiet when she landed, of course, and so there was no one to see Ladybug slithering in through the window. She landed on her bed and sighed, stretching. Much as she enjoyed her time with Chat, there was no arguing that a bed was _much_ more comfortable than a rooftop could ever be.

“Tikki, spots off,” she whispered. As the red flash of light coalesced into her kwami, Marinette reached under her pillow and pulled out three chocolate chip cookies sealed in a baggie. She offered them up to Tikki, feeling a tiny bit guilty about just how long they’d been gone for – her guess had been way off, and it was almost 3am. 

How was it that time spent with Chat could pass so _fast_?

“Thanks, Marinette. Do you and Chat have a good patrol?” Tikki asked, taking the cookies and settling down on the bed.

“Yes, we did,” Marinette said, deciding not to bring up Chat’s earlier concern. It would only worry Tikki unnecessarily. Instead, she just settled down and watched her kwami munch away on cookies.


	8. Exhaustion

“Marinette! Get up! You’re going to be late!”

Marinette moaned and pulled the covers up over her head. Exhaustion weighed heavily at her bones. The last thing she wanted to do was crawl out of bed and go to school on about four hours of sleep. She closed her eyes, lingering over the pleasant dream she’d been having. Something about her and a boy with blond hair and a tropical vacation on a beach.

“Marinette! Your mom is coming!” It was Tikki this time, tugging impatiently at the covers. “You didn’t close the window last night. She’ll get mad.”

“Damn it,” Marinette mumbled, realizing that Tikki was right. Sabine didn’t like it when she slept with the window open because it had rained a couple times, soaking Marinette’s bed. She sat up, squinting in the bright sunlight. At least she didn’t need to worry about rain today.

“Marinette!” Sabine called again, sounding closer.

“I’m up!” Marinette yelled, running her hands through her hair. Her eyes felt bleary, and she was pretty sure she had crusted drool on the side of her cheek. If Chat Noir could see her now, his feelings for Ladybug would cease to be an issue.

“Good. You’ve got fifteen minutes before class starts! Get moving!”

“Fifteen minutes, ugh.” Marinette grumpily pushed back the covers and crawled to the edge of the bed, making her way down the ladder. She took a quick glance in her mirror and shuddered. 

“Scary, isn’t it?” Tikki said with a grin.

“No comments from the peanut gallery,” Marinette muttered. She wasn’t in the mood to wear anything cute today. She grabbed her most comfortable bra, her favorite pair of blue jeans with the pink glittery flower on the thigh, and an over-sized pink sweatshirt. After getting dressed, she shooed Tikki into her purse, grabbed her make-up bag, and made her way to the bathroom.

Twelve minutes later, Marinette emerged looking slightly more human even if she didn’t feel like it. Cover-up, a bit of blush, and some tinted lip balm had helped to cover the worst of her exhaustion. Then she’d scraped her hair back into a braid instead of her usual pigtails, hoping that it would hide the fact that she’d neglected to wash her hair last night.

“Breakfast,” Sabine said as Marinette entered the kitchen, pointing to a small paper bag on the counter. “Your papa took mercy on you and brought you up some croissants. There’s a couple for Alya too.”

“Thanks Maman,” Marinette said, jamming her feet into sneakers. “I’ll see you tonight.” She grabbed the bag and rushed out the door before her maman could respond, clattering down the stairs and out the door. 

“There you are!” Alya exclaimed. “I was starting to think that I’d have to go without you. We’ve got two minutes.” She shoved her watch in Marinette’s face to prove it.

“I know, I’m sorry. I overslept,” Marinette said, pushing Alya’s hand away. “And then I half-assed it… do I look okay?”

Alya looked her up and down before shaking her head. “All I’m gonna say is that I wish I could look as good as you when I’m half-assing it.”

“You always look good,” Marinette said, throwing a playful elbow into Alya’s side. Alya giggled and swatted her back, which Marinette ducked, and then Alya spotted the bag with the croissants so the fight was on for real – right up until the school bell rang. The two girls froze, exchanged identical looks of pure panic, and sprinted across the street with no regard for the oncoming traffic.

“Sorry!” Alya shouted at the honking cars. They ran through the gate, up the steps, and into the school. Luckily, it seemed Madame Bustier was running later as they still got the classroom before her.

“Whew, I’m even more exhausted than before,” Marinette sighed, sinking down onto the bench. Her legs felt like jelly now. 

“Why are you so tired?” Nino asked, turning around to look at her.

“She’s staying up too late dreaming of Adrien,” Alya said teasingly.

Marinette sputtered and turned pink, darting a quick look at Adrien’s empty desk – thank goodness he wasn’t here yet.

“Why would she need to do that when she dreams of Adrien all night?” Nino wanted to know, grinning.

“I hate you both,” Marinette mumbled, and her friends laughed. She mock scowled at both of them, but still shared the croissants her papa had packed for her. 

After all, it wasn’t like they were wrong. Surely the blond boy she’d been dreaming of had been Adrien…

Right?


	9. Tea

“Adrien had some modelling thing all day today,” Alya informed her at lunch time. “Nino said he got a text from him this morning.”

“Let me guess. Monsieur Agreste is being a total asshole and this modelling thing is taking longer than it was supposed to,” Marinette said.

“Bingo. Adrien said he won’t be in at all today and might not even make it in tomorrow. He asked Nino to take extra good notes for him.” Alya looked at her intently.

“What?” Marinette said, confused.

“Girl! This is your chance. Nino’s notes suck, but yours are good… or they can be, when you’re awake to take them. Now is your time to make the best notes there ever were and grab Adrien’s attention for your own!” Alya exclaimed dramatically, waving her arms. Several people turned to look at them, and Marinette could feel herself blushing furiously.

“Shh, Alya! The whole café doesn’t need to know about me and Arien!” Marinette hissed, mortified. She desperately hoped that no one else from Collège Françoise Dupont had decided that they wanted lunch from this particular café.

Alya just grinned. “You better order extra caffeine to keep yourself awake,” was all she said as she shoved Marinette up to the counter.

Just to get even with her, Marinette ordered an extra-large herbal tea and a sandwich. Alya rolled her eyes but didn’t protest Marinette’s order, instead moving up to place an order for her own. Marinette walked over to the other side and accepted her drink and food, hoping she wouldn’t regret the lack of caffeine when the early afternoon crash inevitably set in. Perhaps she’d order a coffee to go.

“So, my mom is talking about a trip to China this summer,” Marinette said as they sat down.

“Seriously? That’s awesome!” Alya said. Then she took another look at Marinette. “Wait. Not awesome?”

Marinette sighed. “I’m torn. It’s a cool trip and all, but… you know my Chinese is crap.”

“Well yeah, but this is like your ideal chance to learn,” Alya pointed out. 

“But I don’t even know most of my mom’s family. What if they think I’m dumb?” Marinette slumped against the table. “Besides, don’t you think it’ll be super awkward? I won’t be able to talk to anyone unless my mom is there.”

Alya frowned. “Okay, that does sound rough. Too bad you couldn’t bundle up a certain blond model and take him with you. I’m sure he’d happily translate.”

“You know what, I honestly wish I could. And not even for my own benefit, but just to get Adrien away from his father for a while,” Marinette said quietly, picking at her sandwich. “I have the feeling that he could really use a break. Especially once school is done, and he has no decent excuse for not being able to work 24/7.”

“Damn, you’re right,” Alya said, fiddling with hair as she took a sip of her coffee. “Poor Adrien.”

“I wish I could do something to help him,” Marinette said, abandoning her sandwich in favor of her tea. It smelled wonderful, fragrant with jasmine and chamomile in a way that just made her want to curl up in bed with Tikki, and she thought about the two blond boys in her life who could both do with some relaxation. It was too bad she couldn’t just say screw Hawkmoth and take both Chat and Adrien to China.

Now there was a thought. She wondered if Chat and Adrien would get along. To her knowledge, they’d never met – and maybe that was a good thing. Chat didn’t seem to think very highly of the Agrestes in general. He didn’t exactly talk badly about them, but he always got this weird look on his face whenever they were mentioned…

“Maybe you could ask him,” Alya said.

“Huh?” Marinette said.

“Adrien. Maybe you could ask if there’s something you can do for him,” Alya explained.

Marinette thought about the billion ways in which she could make a total fool of herself during that conversation, and then she made puppy eyes. “Or you could do it for me while I stand beside you and smile encouragingly.”

“Marinette, how are you ever going to date Adrien if you can’t say more than two words to him?” Alya asked, but she was smiling.

“Hey now. We’re all Adrien’s friends and we all want to support him. Two people is a better show of support,” Marinette defended herself, sipping her tea.

“Okay, you got me there.” Alya conceded. “Okay, next time we see Adrien, I’ll ask.”


	10. Moonlight

“I don’t wanna go back to schooooool,” Marinette whined, putting her face down on the café’s table. Somehow their lunchtime had flown by while she and Alya talked about this morning’s classes and the newest article Alya had written for the Ladyblog, and she couldn’t believe it was already time to head back.

“Bet you’re regretting that lack of caffeine now,” Alya said smugly. She was annoyingly perky after consuming a large latte.

“I hate to admit that you’re right, but you’re right,” Marinette said with a heavy sigh. “I don’t even think I have the strength to make it back to school. You’re going to have to carry me.”

Alya laughed. “As if! You’re gonna have to walk your own lazy butt back. And maybe stop staying up so late. What were you working on, anyway?”

“A design,” Marinette lied, propping herself up with her elbows. “I have that feeling where I want to make something really cool and mysterious, but I can’t quite translate that into clothing that doesn’t look totally dorky.”

“Cool and mysterious. That sounds really interesting. What’s your inspiration?”

Marinette’s brain instantly supplied her with Chat’s profile from last night. Maybe it was the combination of the moonlight and streetlights creating shadows to play with her brain, or maybe it was just the intensity of the moment, but her dorky cat boy had somehow looked like a _man_. Just the memory of it was enough to make her heart skip a beat. But she couldn’t exactly say that to Alya. It would bring forth way too many questions about Marinette’s and Chat Noir’s relationship.

So she said, “Moonlight. But not like, shades of blue. That’s overdone. I was leaning more towards green. Like a really pale, icy green.” The design actually started to take shape as she spoke; she could see it in her mind’s eye. “Maybe a shorter green dress with an overlay of sheer fabric…”

“That sounds gorgeous,” Alya said, impressed. “We have a couple minutes left. I’ll grab you a coffee if you want to do a quick sketch.”

“Thanks,” Marinette said, more grateful than Alya realized. It had been weeks since she’d designed anything. She quickly fished her sketchbook out of her bag and flipped to a new page as Alya left the table. 

Due to the time constraint, she wasn’t able to get everything down in as much detail as she would’ve liked – but she was able to draw a rough sketch and scribble down some notes. She thought the overlay fabric would be best in either white or a shade of green so pale that it looked white in some lights. Any detailing on the dress could be done in a darker shade of green, either forest or emerald.

Perhaps she could even sneak in a cat’s paw or two…

The thought made her smile even as it filled her with sadness. It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t share this with Chat. He knew that Ladybug liked to design in her spare time, but she had never dared to show him anything for fear that he might somehow be able to figure her out if she did. That had never bothered her before as much as it did now, when she was looking down a design inspired by him.

“Beautiful! Really does look like moonlight, but in a way I’ve never seen before,” Alya said as she set a big cup down next to Marinette’s arm.

“Did you buy me an extra-large drink?” Marinette said, staring at the cup. It was as big as her head.

“Like you don’t need it. Now come on. We’re going to be late otherwise.” Alya grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, looking at Marinette expectantly.

“Yeah, okay, I’m coming.” Marinette closed her sketchbook and slid it back into her bag, then stood up and picked up her drink. It was exactly the way she wanted it to be, sweet with just a hint of bitterness. She took a very long drink and swore that she could already feel the sluggish neurons firing up in her brain.

“Sweet, sweet caffeine,” Alya joked, looping her arm through Marinette’s as they left the café. “I haven’t seen you this alert in weeks.”

“Lies,” Marinette said, even though she knew that Alya was probably right about that. And honestly, Alya didn’t even know the half of it since Marinette had become Ladybug right around the same time she met Alya. All Alya had ever known was a friend who was constantly tired and flaked out at the weirdest of times.

“Not lies. Now come on, put that energy to good use! We’re gonna be late!”


	11. AU

“Tikki, what do you think it would have been like if I had been a university student instead of a collège student?” Marinette asked. She was reclining on the chair on her balcony, sketchbook propped against one bent knee. But she wasn’t working on her design. Instead, she was thinking about her conversation with Alya and how things could’ve been different.

Realistically, she knew that there was no fantasy world where it was easy for her or Chat to deal with Hawkmoth: that was the nature of being a superhero. Even as a university student, there would’ve been inconvenient times for an akuma to pop up. But maybe it would’ve been a tiny bit easier for Chat, at least? Surely if he was older, his father wouldn’t have quite as much control over him…

“I don’t know. Why do you ask?” Tikki asked, sitting up. She’d been enjoying the late afternoon sunshine as much as Marinette had, but now she looked attentively at Marinette.

“I was just thinking… Bunnix already confirmed there are different timelines based on the choices we make. So maybe there are alternate universes too.” Marinette rested her head against the back of the chair. “And maybe in one of them, Chat and I are both university students instead and life is a little easier because we’re both older.”

Tikki contemplated that for a moment before she said, “You’re right, there are alternate universes out there.”

“Wait, you know that for a fact?” Marinette said, startled that her idle theory was a possibility. 

“Yeeeeeees,” Tikki said, with so much reluctance that Marinette narrowed her eyes.

“Wait. Tikki, have you _been_ to an alternate universe?”

“No, but I’ve heard that it’s theoretically possible with the use of the right miraculous,” Tikki admitted. “I’ve never known any guardian who attempted it, though. There’s a lot of risk involved in using the Rabbit miraculous, and that’s just when you’re traveling through time. Combining it with another miraculous to travel to an alternate universe has the potential to be incredibly dangerous, so I wouldn’t recommend you try it.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t seriously try it. As cool as it would be to see alternate universes, it’s not like it would make my life any easier,” Marinette said. She tapped her chin with her pencil. “Now, being able to look at different timelines where I did and didn’t go to China, on the other hand…”

“Marinette, do I need to tell you again that the miraculous aren’t to be used for personal gain?” Tikki asked, exasperated.

“No, I’m good,” Marinette said. What would life be like without Tikki to keep her on the straight and narrow? As much as she loved her kwami, that would be an alternate universe she’d be interested in seeing!

“Besides, even if you could see those timelines, it would take a lot of practice with the Rabbit miraculous for you to be able to identify the exact actions that led about those timelines,” Tikki added.

“So what you’re saying is, I should practice with the Rabbit miraculous more,” Marinette said with a straight face.

Tikki glared at her so pointedly that Marinette couldn’t help cracking and laughing.

“I’m kidding! I have my hands full with the Ladybug miraculous. Alix is more than welcome to handle the Rabbit,” Marinette said, shaking her head.

“Good. And I’d also like to point that even if you and Chat were in university, that doesn’t necessarily mean your lives would be any easier. What would happen if you had a job outside of the bakery? Do you think your boss would be okay with you leaving every time an akuma attacked?” Tikki asked.

Marinette opened her mouth to respond and then paused, realizing that Tikki was right. Her parents gave her a lot of leeway in that direction, but a random boss probably wouldn’t be so forgiving. The same might actually go for Chat. As tough as his father was on him now, he might have even harsher expectations on an older Chat. Maybe in that alternate universe, Chat might not even have the time to be Chat Noir.

And she couldn’t imagine anything worse.

“You’re right, Tikki. It’s not always easy in this universe, but things could be a lot worse,” Marinette said. She looked at her sketchbook again, taking in the lines of the dress. Was there an alternate universe or even a timeline where she could wear a dress like this with Chat? Or with Adrien? Not knowing was frustrating.

But there was one thing she could do. She didn’t have the nerve to show her sketchbook to Adrien, but Chat was a different story. She’d show him this dress soon – maybe not on their next patrol, but soon. It was a little daring and risky, but suddenly Marinette didn’t care. The thought of his reaction was too appealing. She smiled to herself and put pencil to paper so that she could finish her sketch.


	12. Vacation

“Marinette! Are you up there?”

Tikki dove for Marinette’s purse and disappeared inside just in the nick of time. Tom’s head appeared through Marinette’s window a few seconds later. With the ease of several months of practice, Marinette was able to smile calmly at her papa as though her kwami hadn’t just come within seconds of being discovered.

“What’s going on, Papa?” she asked.

“Could you come down and help in the bakery for a few minutes? I need some help,” he said. “Would you mind? Are you busy?”

“I was just working on a sketch,” Marinette told him, flipping the book around as proof. Her papa looked at the sketch for a moment before a smile broke out across his face.

“It looks beautiful,” he said. “You’re so talented, _ma chérie_. Someday I’m going to be seeing your designs on the greatest catwalks of Paris!”

Marinette scoffed a bit even as she blushed and got up. As nice as her parent’s pride was, it could also be a little embarrassing. She grabbed her purse and followed her papa back inside. This time, she made sure to close and lock the window. It didn’t look like it was going to rain anytime soon, but sometimes the weather in Paris could be a little unpredictable.

“Okay, can you work on icing the macarons?” Tom asked as she entered the kitchen. “I think we’re almost sold out so your maman will be back here looking for some soon.”

“Sure,” Marinette said. She washed her hands and donned an apron before picking up the icing bag. There were dozens and dozens of macarons laid out, waiting to be iced. She sat down and pulled a tray of chocolate ones closer. They would go well with the pink, strawberry-flavored icing she held.

“So, how are you feeling about this vacation your maman wants to take you on?” Tom said, trying hard to sound casual.

“Umm… I haven’t really decided how I feel about it yet,” Marinette said slowly. She drew a small circle of icing on a macaron before glancing over at her papa. He was in the middle of shaping croissant dough. She watched him for a moment. His fingers were so fast and dexterous, and she envied that.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Tom said. He laid out another croissant and looked over at her as he scooped up more dough.

“I kind of want to go and kind of don’t,” Marinette admitted. “This is – the timing isn’t great, that’s all. Alya and all my friends are going to be around this summer. Their families aren’t taking any trips or anything. So I was looking forward to having lots of time with them.”

“If they’re not going on vacation this year, they’ll still be here when you and your maman get back in mid-July,” Tom pointed out.

Shoot. Marinette instantly realized that she should’ve said some of her friends were going on vacation in the latter half of the summer. It would’ve been an excellent excuse. Then again, she would’ve been screwed if her parents had started asking any of her friends about their vacation plans. It could’ve backfired, but it would’ve been such an easy excuse if it had worked…

“Yeah, I know,” Marinette said finally, looking away. She drew a couple more circles of icing, then set the piping bag down and pressed un-iced macarons on top of the iced ones. The icing bulged out, but not too much, leaving the macarons looking mouth-wateringly good if she did say so herself.

“Your maman is going to look at buying tickets this weekend. If you don’t want to go, you need to let us know before then,” Tom told her.

Marinette chewed her lower lip and, without saying anything, iced some more macarons. She felt too tired and too stressed to be able to think of the right thing to do. Chat was technically right about being able to use the Horse miraculous to travel back and forth. It would also help to preserve her secret identity if Ladybug was being seen around Paris when Marinette Dupain-Cheng was halfway across the world.

But there was so much potential for things to go wrong. The time zones alone could be tricky, but what would she do if an akuma attacked in Paris while she was surrounded by family or crowds in China? It wouldn’t be nearly as easy to get away in a foreign country. Unless…

What if she left the Ladybug miraculous with Chat and went to China with the Black Cat miraculous?


	13. Sleep

“I need to think about it some more,” Marinette said at last. “But I promise I’ll make a decision by the weekend, okay?” She looked over at Tom hopefully. Much to her relief, he smiled at her.

“That sounds okay with me. I’ll make sure your maman holds off on buying the tickets for a little bit,” he said.

“Thanks Papa,” Marinette said. She really appreciated that he had checked in with her to make sure that she actually wanted to go to Paris, rather than just assuming that her on-the-spot shock had been her real reaction. 

“Thank me by finishing up those macarons before your maman comes looking for them,” he replied, waving to the four macarons she had finished.

Marinette saluted him. “Roger!”

She spent the next couple of hours icing macarons and then, once those were finished, frosting cupcakes. Once that was all done, it was time for supper. Marinette ate and participated in the conversation with her parents, but her mind was on something totally different. She was relieved when the dishes were done and she was able to escape back upstairs – after, of course, she slipped some cookies in her pocket for Tikki.

“Tikki, we need to talk,” Marinette blurted out the instant her door was shut.

“Is something wrong?” Tikki asked, emerging from Marinette’s purse with a panicked look.

“No. Not wrong. Well, maybe? I don’t know.” Marinette had to stop and take a deep breath, because her poor kwami was looking increasingly confused. “What if you stayed here with Chat while I was in China? I could take Plagg with me. Then if Chat needed the Ladybug miraculous, but I couldn’t get away, he’d already have it.”

“Oh…” Tikki seemed surprised by this. She mulled it over for a few seconds before nodding. “That actually sounds like something that could work. I’m proud of you, Marinette. That’s a very wise solution.”

Marinette beamed. “Thanks! I’m not 100% sure about it. I’d have to talk to Chat first. And… it means I would be away from you for over a month.” She looked at Tikki anxiously. 

They hadn’t been apart for more than a few minutes since Marinette had first been given the Ladybug miraculous and honestly, Marinette wasn’t sure how she felt about being away from Tikki for that long. Plagg was cute and sassy, but Tikki was her main source of support in her increasingly crazy life. While this solution sounded good on paper, Marinette didn’t know if she could actually do it.

And she wasn’t sure if Chat would want to do it either. Despite the fact that Chat and Plagg were always teasing each other, she knew that they were actually incredibly close – as close as Marinette and Tikki were. She would be asking a lot for Chat to give up Plagg for that long. In fact, given that Chat sometimes did things he didn’t want to do just to make Ladybug happy, she wasn’t sure she should ask at all.

“That would be hard. I’d love to go to China with you,” Tikki said, sounding a bit wistful. “But unfortunately, if you do decide to go, this would probably be the smartest thing you could do. After all, if you were unexpectedly detained in China, an akuma could do a lot of damage in Paris. Chat would be able to Cataclysm it, but he wouldn’t be able to repair any of the damage without me.”

“Exactly,” Marinette said, sighing. She sat down at her desk, wondering why everything had to be so complicated. Even when she’d come up with what seemed to be the ideal solution, it actually wasn’t.

“Don’t be too sad. You can talk to Chat about it and see what he thinks,” Tikki said.

“Should I? I mean, what if he says yes just because he wants to make me happy?” Marinette said. 

Tikki frowned. “That is a possibility, but Chat is old enough to make those decisions on his own,” she pointed out. “At the very least, I think you should mention it to him. He might even have come up with the same idea on his own.”

“Maybe,” Marinette said. “I wish we could meet up tonight to talk about it.”

“Transform and call him. Maybe he’s out and about,” said Tikki, but Marinette shook her head.

“No. He said he a really busy couple of days coming up as a civilian. That means he won’t be around,” she said. She would just have to wait until their next patrol night, which was still two whole days away. Marinette slumped at the thought of it. She wasn’t going to be getting much sleep until she talked to Chat, so it was going to be a long few days.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
